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SREP Research Faculty

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Dr. Laudan Jahromi

My research lab is investigating social and emotional development in typically-developing children and those with developmental delays. Our current project explores factors that are related to how children with and without autism express and control their emotions. Emotion regulation is a critical dimension of typical children’s healthy social development and is regarded as an important element of adaptive functioning in social settings for children with autism spectrum disorders. In this study, we examine preschoolers’ emotion regulation skills using laboratory observations as well as parent reports. We also examine possible correlates of emotion regulation, including executive function, sensory experiences, and joint attention.

Drs. Ariana Mikulsi, Laura Hanish, Carol Martin and Richard Fabes
Project LEE (Lenguaje y Éxito Escolar/Languages and Educational Excellence):

Project LEE (Lenguaje y Éxito Escolar/Languages and Educational Excellence) focuses on 4-year-old Head Start students who come from Spanish-speaking homes. We are interested in these children’s academic, and social development, as well as their language development in English and Spanish. Our goal is to better understand the relationship between bilingual language development and school success.

Dr. Sandra Simpkins

How adolescents spend their time after school matters for their future success. Adolescents who participate in organized after-school activities are more likely to graduate high school and less likely to engage in health-compromising behaviors. The goal of the After School Matters Project is to understand what drives adolescents to participate (and not participate) in organized after-school activities. We are particularly interested in why Mexican Americans are least likely of all ethnic groups to participate in organized activities.

Dr. Adriana Umaña-Taylor

My research focuses on understanding how Latino adolescents develop an understanding of their ethnicity and the role that family members and community contexts play in ethnic identity development. I also study the potential protective function of ethnic identity and how it can buffer the negative effects of stressors such as experiences with discrimination. I recently completed data collection for a 4-year longitudinal study focused on Latino adolescents’ ethnic identity development, family socialization, and academic outcomes. I am also Principal Investigator of a longitudinal study focused on Mexican-origin teen moms, in which we gather data from adolescent moms, their mothers/mother figures, and their infants.

Dr. Carlos Valiente

My research focuses on the relations between children’s temperament and their problem behaviors, social competence, and academic performance. I also consider how the family environment and parenting processes influence these processes.

Dr. Brandon Yoo

My research interest broadly examines how racial minorities experience and cope with culture-specific stressors. One area of particular interest is how Asian Americans internalize and deal with racism. More specially, I am interested in answering the following three interrelated questions: 1) What types of racism are most frequently experienced by Asian Americans and what are its psychological and academic consequences (e.g., perceived model minority myth on well-being?)? 2) When and why are Asian Americans likely to attribute negative life events to racism? 3) How does cultural identity buffer the effects of racism on the well-being of Asian Americans? Currently, our lab is attempting to address these questions through several projects focusing on college and high school populations.